Event 3: Jaime Doubles

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

On the river with a board of 5♣3♣3♥J♣7♣, Manuel Jaime (New York, NY) was all-in.

Manuel Jaime

Mickey W (New York, NY) gave it some thought before making the call.

Mickey held pocket Aces with the A♣ for the nut flush.

Manuel held 5♦3♦ for the flopped full house.  He doubled up to over 300k.

Mickey was left with ~12k and busted out soon after.

Event 3: CJ Crushed

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 16:  Blinds 2k/4k with 400 ante.

Apparently CJ's luck turned as soon as I walked away from the table.

She lost a couple of big pots and then was all-in with J7 against Paul Gileno, who held pocket Queens.

The flop brought both a Queen and a 7, giving Paul a set and CJ a pair.

Turn was another 7, improving Paul's hand to a full house.  CJ was left looking for the case 7 on the river.

River was a brick, however, and she was busted.

41 players remain.  Average stack is 130k.

Event 3: CJ Crushing

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

CJ (Bensalem, PA) was short-stacked and all-in for 41,700.

Mickey W (New York, NY) called.

Then the player in seat 3 moved in over the top.

 CJ and Mickey W

Mickey called 61,300 all-in for the side pot and the hands were tabled:

CJ:  AK
Mickey: KK
Seat 3:  QQ

Everyone knew the Ace was coming.  The board fell A 8 2 J 4.

CJ tripled her stack to over 125k.

Mickey took the side pot, which left him with ~125k.

Soon after a short-stack holding pocket 9s was all-in and called by CJ who held AK again.

A King on the flop sent the pot to CJ.  She chipped up to ~175k.

Event 3: Blinds Up!

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 15:  Blinds 1,500/3,000 with 400 ante.

Blinds are up and more regulars are out the door:

Not So Lucky Lee Kirsch
Maruti Yarlapati
Leonardo Palermo

Event 3: Break Time

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

End of level 14 and time for a break.

46 players remain.  Average stack is 116k.

Mike Hahn

Mike Hahn has reclaimed his chip lead in a big way.  He's up to ~466k and well ahead of the field.

19 more must go to reach the money.  Only the final 27 will get paid.

Event 3: Irish Paul

  $500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

On a flop of Q T 7 -- all spades -- seat 3 bet, and 'Irish' Paul Mullins (Silver Spring, MD) pushed out a stack of gray chips, essentially covering his opponent.

'Irish' Paul Mullins

Seat 3 tanked for a bit, chatting to try to sort out what he was up against.

Eventually he showed a red Queen and folded his hand.

Irish Paul showed the Queen of clubs before collecting his pot.  Although he didn't show the other card, he told the table he had QT of clubs for two pair (no spade).

Seat 3 said he also had no spade, "or I would have called". 

Irish Paul is up to about 330k and may have taken the chip lead away from Mike Hahn.

Event 3: Another Contender

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 14:  Blinds 1,200/2,400 with 300 ante.
 

 Paul Gileno

Paul Gileno (Meriden, CT) has quietly grown his stack to ~260k, putting him among the chip leaders.

'Lucky' Lee Kirsch

He's sharing the felt with 'Lucky' Lee Kirsch, who managed to get all-in with the only stack at the table that was shorter than his.

Lee's AQ was ahead of his opponent's K8.  The board came T 9 5 A x and Lee took the pot, chipping up to ~30k.

Event 3: Ups & Downs

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Blinds up!

Level 13:  Blinds 1k/2k with 300 ante.

63 players remain.  Average stack is 85k.

Several familiar faces have exited the tournament:

Craig Feldherr
Antonio Walker
Mickey Woll
Michael Marder
Alan Kraut
Patti Barsanti-Chou

Event 3: Rinaldi Doubles Big

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Philip Rinaldi (Silver Spring, MD) was all-in for 81,900 on the turn with a board of 6 5 2 6 rainbow.

Eric Pfeil (Johnstown, PA) was on the button and tanked for a couple of minutes.  Eventually the clock was called.

Philip Rinaldi, giving nothing away

Before his time expired, Eric made the call, showing pocket 4s.

Philip held pocket Queens and was way ahead.

River was a Jack and Philip doubled up to ~250k, in a dead heat with chip leader Mike Hahn.

Philip is fresh from his 10th place finish in Event 2 ($350 Black Chip Bounty NLH) which earned him $1,258.

Event 3: Rittmeyer Doubles

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Three players saw a flop of Q T 8 rainbow. 

David Rittmeyer (Towson, MD) was in the big blind and checked.

David Rittmeyer

The player in seat 8 bet 9k. 

The player in seat 2 (button) shoved. 

David called all-in for less.

Seat 8 gave it some thought, then mucked (he later said he had KJ for the open-ended draw).

The other two tabled their hands:

Seat 2 - KQ for top pair
David - Q8 for two pair

Turn was a 9, which would have completed the straight for seat 8.

River was a 4 and David more than doubled up to ~75k.

David is a familiar face in the tournaments here at Borgata.  He has a couple of final tables with his best finish being a 3rd place in the 2011 Summer Poker Open $400 NLH, good for $6,340.

Event 3: Back From Dinner

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 12:  Blinds 800/1,600 with 200 ante.

Players are back to the felt following dinner.

They'll play until about 2am, then bag their chips for the night.

Day two begins at noon Saturday.

Mike 'Litte Man' Sica Update

If you've hung around poker tournaments for any length of time, you've met Mike 'Little Man' Sica (N Brunswick, NJ).

Mike 'Little Man' Sica

He's always got a kind word and a "God Bless You" for everyone and always got a toothpick holder if you need a toothpick.

Back in April, Little Man discovered he had lung cancer and has been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

He sent me a text today telling me to let everyone know he's hanging in there.  He has good days and bad days and hopes to be playing again soon.

We're all wishing Little Man the best of luck with his treatments and look forward to seeing him back on the felt.

Event 3: Dinner Time

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

At the end of the level, they rang the dinner bell and sent about 80 players off to dinner.

Play will resume at about 8:15 pm with level 12 and blinds of 800/1,600/200 ante.

Mike Hahn is the chip leader with about 240k.

Event 3: Chipping Up

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

Carmen DiMaria

Carmen DiMaria (Westfield, NJ) has grown his stck to about 180k and in good shape heading into the dinner break.  "Tell her it's because an angel came down and gave you those chips" a tablemate said.  If it weren't for luck, Phil Hellmuth would win them all, so we all need a little luck sometimes.

Justin Cosentino

Justin Cosentino (Park Ridge, NJ) had already built a nice stack of about 150k when a short stack shoved.  Justin called with AK off and was dominating the shorties A9 suited.  A King of the flop was all he needed to collect another pot, chipping up to ~175k.

Event 3: Still In the Fight

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 11:  Blinds 600/1,200 with 200 ante.

Blinds are up with about 95 players still in the mix.  Average stack is ~56k.

These are some of the familiar faces I spotted:

Leonardo Palermo
Mickey Woll
Antonio Walker
Christine Brewer
Lucky Lee Kirsch
Michael Marder
Craig Feldherr
Philip Rinaldi
Patti Barsanti-Chou
Alan Kraut
Maruti Yarlapati

Phong 'VIP' Nguyen got his last chips in with KQ, but ran into AK.  He reported to the rail during the previous level.

Event 3: Hahn Solo

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Mike Hahn (Indianapolis, IN) is back at Borgata and setting himself up for a deep run as he's alone at the top of the chip counts with 190k (190 bb).

The next big stacks are in the 125k-150k range as Level 10 (500/1k/100 ante) continues.

Hahn had a couple of deep runs here during the 2011 Borgata Winter Poker Open including a final table.  Since then he's had a couple of decent scores to take his career tournament earnings to more than $250,000.

Hahn also won his first WSOP Circuit ring earlier this year and is looking to add to his bankroll.

The top 27 cash in this event with first prize coming in at $36,264.

Surprise, Birthday Boy!

Surprise!  It's your birthday!

Big Happy Birthday Wishes go out to everyone's favorite swing shift floor man Andrew Wong!

He's celebrating his 39th birthday today, working tournaments here at the Borgata Summer Poker Open.

Event 3: Payouts

Borgata Summer Poker Open
Event 3: $500 + $60 Big Stack No Limit Hold'em

Entries:  267
Total Buy-In:  $133,500

PAYOUTS:
1:         $36,264
2:         $21,367
3:         $12,302
4:           $9,971
5:           $7,770
6:           $6,475
7:           $5,180
8:           $3,885
9:           $2,590
10-12:   $1,683
13-15:   $1,424
16-18:   $1,295
19-27:   $1,165

Event 3: Show & Tell

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

A series of players can't help but show their cards in various scenarios.

First David Gerassi (Oceanside, NY) gives Mike Marder (Sewell, NJ) the courtesy of showing him AK after Marder folds to Gerassi's all-in bet.

On another table, Patrick Curzio (Fairfax, VA) bets a board showing three spades and then shows 3♠ 5♠, after his opponent folds, for a flopped flush.

And finally Moshe Dahan (Brookln, NY) shows Sam Ruszkay (Paoli, PA) the end of the road when she misses a flush draw against his flopped pair of aces while holding AK.

Players are on break as the green (25) chips are removed from play.

108 players remain with an average stack of 49k (49 bb) with blinds going to 500/1k/100 ante.

Event 3: "Ohmigod!"

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry) 

 Kovaci Ducks Mazzeo's Trips

Ohmigod! isn't just the name of his gourmet cookie business, but the reaction by Matt "Muffins" Mazzeo (East Williston, NY) when his opponent turns over the winner.

Mazzeo is ahead the entire hand and leads every street until the river when he checks the board of 3 3 9 J 2.

Mirsad Kovaci (Allentown, PA) bets 10k, Mazzeo moves all in and Kovaci snap calls turning over pocket 2s for a rivered full house

"Ohmigod!" says Mazzeo who shows A 3 and for trip threes.  "Good luck everybody," says a stunned Mazzeo whose day is over.

"Deuces is a big hand there," jokes Kovaci, knowing that he was fortunate to hit the two-outer.  "He raised preflop so I figured Ace-King."

Mazzeo says the business is doing well, squeezing poker into his schedule when he can.

We featured the cookies earlier in the blog <---Click Here
and Mazzeo may need to eat some of his famous Raspberry Madness because the game can drive you crazy.

Level 9 (400/800/75 ante) continues.

Event 3: Tall Task

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

 Featured Table

Our feature table has a lot of recognizable faces including: Matt "Muffins" Mazzeo, Phong "VIP" Nguyen, Mirsad Kovaci, Craig Feldherr and Neville Darrell.

The necomer to the group is Keith Sierdazki who tangled in a hand with Feldherr earlier in the day.

Level 8 (300/600/75 ante) is underway.

Event 3: Is Anyone Here a Marine Biologist?

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

With registration closed, play is settling down and the big stacks are starting to surface.  There aren't any monster stacks, but a couple of players are in the 95k range.

The short list includes Dave Gerassi (Oceanside, NY) and Steve Gerber (Cresskill, NJ) who are side-by-side and having a great time.  "He has better hands than me," says Gerber. "He hits sets and flushes."

When Gerassi reveals that he has a risk management consulting business it opens up a whole bunch of Seinfeld jokes.

"Yeah and he's a marine biologist on weekends and hangs out with his friend Cosmo," laughs Gerassi.

These are all George Costanza references including the episode where Jason Alexander's character prepares to give a lecture on risk management, something he knows nothing about.

"I never thought about it," says Gerber when asked if his job helps his poker game, "I guess so."

And even if it doesn't, Gerber can always fake it.

Level 7 (250/500/50 ante) continues.

Event 3: Registration Closing

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

Level 6 (200/400/50) is winding down and the short stacks are looking for that last second double-up before registration closes.

Players will have through the break to re-enter or late register for this event. Players may also surrender their stack for a fresh 20k.

We'll update the final totals after the cage verifies the total entries

Event 3: Picture Perfect Moment

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

 Eilers & Harkins

While playing this tournament, Event 2 winner David Eilers (Rocky Mount, NC) gets his custom framed winners photo from Erik Harkins of Image Masters.

With Father's Day right around the corner, these framed photos would make perfect gifts!

Event 3: Grinding Past Guarantee

$500 + $60 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

The $100,000 Guarantee has already been passed as there are 230 entries and counting.

Level 5 (150/300/25 ante) continues while registration is open through Level 6 (~3:40 pm).

Here's a look at some late arrivals:

Patti Barsanti-Chou
Allen Chou
Charlie Minter
Matt "Muffins" Mazzeo
Mickey Woll
Leonardo Palermo
Grace Sun
Christine Brewer
Mike Marder
Abe Alqanawi
Phong "VIP" Nguyen